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Irish game publishers face challenges

Eoin Purcell

Games are not all child’s playThis is an interesting piece though I’d have liked a little more meat, why are really good in depth feature pieces so rare in Irish journalism (I’d love an Irish magazine that promoted long form journalism, 5-10,000 word pieces):

The barrier for entry to the lucrative multibillion dollar cross-platform gaming business may be too high for Irish firms and if the industry is to have any chance of future success clever niches in areas like casual gaming and other supporting fields must be identified.

Still the parallels between book and games publishing are interesting (as are the obvious differences). One of the things that is increasingly frustrating to me is the way Irish people and economic actors simply surrender space to foreign competition. 20 years ago people would have said that Disney’s animation business was protected by enormous barriers to entry and a remarkable catalogue of movies, hello Pixar.

Surrendering territory to rivals can be a wise decision, often it is the correct decision, but there seems to be a tendency in Irish creative industries to surrender space simply because rivals are better funded, longer established and hold greater market share. Are there no opportunities to take some of that share through innovation, smarter products or even, god forbid it, better ideas?

Eoin Recommends

Really enjoyed this slice of sci-fi. Powerful sense of setting and character. Very clever use of multi-perspective but single mind characters to throw the reader into a new experience and to challenge the readers perceptions. Nice plot too, decent action and interesting philosophical questions raised to boot!

One of my all-time favourite first books of a series. This is epic in its vision and its scope, it is ambitious in it aims and smashes home with considerable forced. Reeve is to my mind one of the most underrated writers out there. The series weakens a little as it progresses, that I will allow, but Mortal Engines is a true classic that will stand the test of time and no doubt about it!